The Photo That Changed Everything
Jorge looked at the photograph and couldn’t believe his eyes. He stopped his work and stared at the screen for a few minutes. “That’s...me,” he said quietly.
But he didn’t remember anyone taking this photograph of him… something wasn’t right. When Laura began to explain what was really going on, his whole world came crashing down.
Human Error
Even in the most well-run and well-staffed hospitals around the world, mistakes sometimes do happen.
What we learned from Jorge’s story is that If there’s one thing that’s certain in life, it’s that there is always room for human error. And these mistakes can alter the lives of the people involved forever.
Twins
For over two decades, nobody knew that a mistake was made when two pairs of twins were born in a hospital in Columbia.
Nobody had a clue that something was amiss, not even their parents. That was, until a chance meeting and a set of extraordinary circumstances revealed everything -- twenty years later.
Fraternal Twins
William and Wilber Cañas Velasco grew up side-by-side in the rural countryside of Columbia. As far as they knew, they were fraternal twins.
They had never seen the capital city of Bogotá, and they were completely oblivious to the fact that, somewhere in the city, there were two boys who looked exactly like them.
The Same Situation
Carlos Alberto and Jorge Enrique Bernal Castro lived in the city. And they also had always thought that they were fraternal twins.
It didn’t matter that their faces and frames looked completely different. They had never stopped to question their own identities. And they would have continued to believe the lie if a friend hadn’t brought something to their attention.
The Wheels Of Fate
It was the summer of 2013. Janeth Páez was in northern Bogotá, visiting a grocery store that her good friend William worked at.
Janeth knew William well enough that he would give her a discount on her orders. William was behind the counter, butchering meat when she approached with the intention of asking for a discount on some pork ribs. But she wasn’t the only one there.
Recognizing Him
Laura, Janeth’s friend, had decided to tag along. But when she saw the man behind the counter, she was convinced that it was a colleague of hers who worked at an engineering firm.
Laura couldn’t contain herself. She waved hello to the man she thought was Jorge and wondered why he was working there.
No Wave Back
To Laura’s surprise, “Jorge” hardly acknowledged her greeting at all. Laura even called his name, but he didn’t respond.
Janeth was confused by Laura’s behavior, so she asked why she was calling her friend William by a different name. ‘That’s Jorge!’’ Laura told Janeth. ‘‘He works in my office.’’ Janeth shook her head. That couldn’t be right.
Something Doesn't Add Up
Janeth pointed out that William had worked at the grocery store for years, but Laura insisted.
‘‘No, it’s Jorge — I know him,’’ she said, but it was slowly dawning on her that something wasn’t right about the situation. Surely Jorge would have greeted her back? Why was he ignoring her like this?
Confusion
When the man behind the counter had finished butchering the meat, he came out to give Janeth a hug.
Janeth quickly introduced him to Laura as William, but Laura couldn’t shake the feeling that ‘William” was actually her friend masquerading as a butcher. Janeth told her that she must be mistaken, but Laura wouldn’t let it go. But she had a plan.
Approaching Jorge
When the next workday rolled around, Laura decided to approach Jorge. When she told him that she’d seen him at a grocery store in town, he couldn’t help but laugh.
He pointed out that he did actually have a twin, but because they were fraternal twins, they looked nothing alike. But Laura still wasn’t going to just let what she’d seen go.
Brushing Her Off
A while later, Janeth began working alongside Laura at the engineering firm. There, she met Jorge for herself.
Although Janeth didn’t feel close enough to Jorge to talk to him, she did show William a picture of his doppelgänger… which he just brushed off. Six months later, Janeth left the engineering firm. Then, she sent Laura a picture of William to show to Jorge.
Revelation
Jorge stared at the photograph. He just couldn’t believe his eyes. “That’s...me,” he said, perplexed. That’s when Laura told him everything.
And, one by one, the dominoes of Jorge’s life as he knew it began to fall. It wasn’t long before all four brothers pieced the clues together and discovered what had really happened.
Switched At Birth
At the time of the boys’ birth, the brothers had accidentally been switched by the attending nurse -- she’d mixed up two sets of twins.
With an uncomfortable reality weighing heavily on their shoulders, the young men decided to let bygones be bygones and make the most of their situation. They all met up and instantly felt deeply connected to one another.
Coming Together
Instead of the two sets of twins acting like each other’s siblings, they decided to become one big happy family.
William, Wilber, Carlos, and Jorge began to spend more time together, and it wasn’t long before other people began to take notice. The four young men became international celebrities almost overnight -- people couldn’t get enough of their story. They even bought a house together!